This weekend I went down to visit my parents and my two best friends in London, which, this weekend, was home to the infamous London Fashion Week. My best friend goes to London College of Fashion and so this weekend I got as close to being part of London Fashion Week as I am probably ever going to get. And would probably ever wish to get.
Before you think I'm going to go on a fashion slating spree; I do like fashion. I dabble. I enjoy going into Topshop, H&M, and so on and blowing my overdraft on flimsy pieces of material that have probably cost about 2p in a sweatshop to make. I feel guilty but, I can't help myself.
But Fashion week raised the game. As I walked through Covent Garden, alien like waif creatures swanned past with lattes and green teas in their hands, Blackberrys provided a backing track for my day and the clothes. WELL. Never have I seen so many fake glasses, wild patterns, platforms, metal, fur and shaved hair on a group of people. Or on one person in a few cases.
My best friend dragged me past this que of eccentric characters into the VIP lounge, where she picked up the tickets for her shows. She is interning for a magazine, which means London Fashion Week is no fun. Oh no. It's running around all day in heels with no time to take your eyes off of anything skinny with fabric on it. It's all work and no play/food in the world of fashion magazines.
As I sat in the VIP lounge feeling increasingly uncomfortable, knowing I had no right to be there, I overheard a conversation between two jewellery-clad women beside me.
"Fashion week is just gaining so much more importance. I don't think people took it seriously before, but fashion is really creating an impact now. People take it as an art that has a message."
REALLY?! The silliness of the whole thing had struck me early on but this had really hit the nail on the end. Fashion really is, ridiculous. It rarely highlights the poverty of the world, the corruption, the injustice. Especially when most pieces are more expensive than what I pay for a flat in Leicester.
Why does fashion need to be taken seriously? It seems much better enjoyed as what it is, undeniably shallow but fun nonetheless. Like a one night stand. Something you look back on in a few years and say "I really did that?" much like we think "I really wore that?".
My experience of fashion week left me feeling like I had been part of an elaborate comedy sketch and I was happy to leave untarnished by the view that fashion is anything more than reinventing the way we look through amalgamations like 'snoods' and 'jeggings' and even 'swackets'. Yes. A sweater jacket. I think my point is clear.
No comments:
Post a Comment